


It's Everything You Ever Want

by chairmancatsby



Series: 12 Days of MaleChristmas [6]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec's not really out of the closet, M/M, Magnus is magical, circus AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 02:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13203609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chairmancatsby/pseuds/chairmancatsby
Summary: Alec hadn't wanted to go to the circus at all. It was Jace who had roped him into it. Meeting a handsome Magician hadn't been on Alec's list of things to do either.





	It's Everything You Ever Want

**Author's Note:**

> This was largely inspired by The Greatest Showman (as can be seen from the title...you'll understand if you have watched the movie!). I love it so much that I've seen it twice. The songs are great and I liked how grand everything was. There were quite a few bad reviews about it and yeah I agree with some of them but I still like the movie and now I'm rambling (/__\\)
> 
> Tweet me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chairmancatsby) if you liked this!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> xoxo  
> Trix

Lying just outside the city walls near a river was a large tent that held Magic way beyond imagination. There was a circus there that was said to be the greatest show ever. It had once been inside the city but had moved out due to some problems. Despite the relocation, it still attracted many people every single night. The tent would be packed and filled to the brim with excited spectators waiting to see the magic.

That night was no different.

Cheers and music were coming from inside the large tent. Bright and colourful lights seeped through the red and white cloth, making the water droplets on the grass shimmer. The rain had subsided into a light drizzle but the uneven holes in the ground remained filled with patches of water. It was night time, the sky was a blanket of darkness but the atmosphere inside of the tent was livelier than day in the city was.

“Come on, Alec!” Jace shouted with a laugh, running and stepping on a puddle, making the water splash against the bottom of his pants. “We’re late! The show’s already starting!”

“Coming,” Alec called out unenthusiastically, grimacing at the wet ground and his shoes that had once been clean and polished but was now covered with mud and water from the soil.

The music from the circus sounded as unappealing as when Alec had first heard its name - Magical Moments. What kind of a name was that? Alec didn’t want to be there but Jace had managed to drag him all the way to the outskirts of the city. The blonde had claimed that the greatest show was ongoing there and had promised Alec the time of his life. But Alec knew the real reason for visiting the circus was because Jace wanted to see a girl there. He didn’t know who it was but he briefly remembered Jace talking about her a few times. Isabelle would know better but unfortunately, a lady wasn’t supposed to go out so late at night, especially not to a place such as a circus.

“Tickets for two!” Alec heard Jace telling the man at the counter.

“We’re all sold out today,” the man replied with a thick accent. “No more tickets for ye two.”

“I’m sure you could do us a favour!” Jace was smiling at the man the way he would smile at girls when he wanted them to help him with something. That man wasn’t like one of those girls though and Jace was a fool if he believed that he could talk his way into this one.

The man grinned at Jace before spitting into the ground next to his feet, making the blonde’s right eye twitch. “Can’t help ye guys. Come back ‘morrow.”

“But – ” Jace started to protest but stopped when Alec slammed his hand on the counter. Beneath his palm, there were a few notes sticking out. Jace raised a brow at Alec, wondering what his brother was up to.

“I’m sure you can do us a favour now,” Alec said and the man’s eyes widened as his hands reached for the cash underneath Alec’s hand. “Tickets first,” Alec insisted, not removing his hand.

The man glared at Alec and grumbled incoherently but Alec was certain that the man was scolding them in some slang he didn’t understand. They got that a lot. Eventually, the man pulled out two tickets from and passed them to Jace. The ticket-seller then pushed at Alec’s hand while making eye contact with the hazel-eyed man.

After a while, Alec finally removed his hand but before the man could greedily grab all of the money, Alec took one note away. “You didn’t have to spit at my brother’s shoe.” As the man opened his mouth, Alec continued speaking. “And before you say something along the lines of me being a rich man’s son and having things my way all the time, let me tell you that I’m not like the rest of them. I wouldn’t spit at your feet and I don’t look down on you.”

The man scoffed. “But you still think money can buy everything.”

They were simple words but it struck a chord in Alec that made him speechless.

“Let’s go, Alec,” Jace said bitterly, pulling his brother away from the booth.

“Enjoy the show!” the man called after them sarcastically.

“I shouldn’t have...” Alec muttered as Jace pulled him into the tent of the circus. The words from the ticket seller were still ringing in his ears and Alec knew that they held a certain truth to them.

“Alec!” Jace called out, snapping his fingers in front of the taller man. “Look.”

All at once, Alec’s senses were bombarded with the music, laughter, and cheers. His eyes widened when he saw just how many people there were in that tent. It looked big on the outside but the inside looked even bigger. More than its size though were the performers right in the centre. They glided so effortlessly across the stage as if they were born to put up a show. The sight was mesmerising and Alec found that he couldn’t look away until he heard Jace shout someone’s name.

“Clary!” Jace exclaimed excitedly as he grabbed Alec’s hand again and pulled him towards a row of seats.

Frowning, Alec tried not to push the people he was walking past but it was too crowded and he eventually gave up. No one seemed bothered though and allowed him and Jace to pass. Alec had a feeling that it had something to do with the expensive clothes they were wearing.

Looking at the performers at the centre of the tent again, the first person who Alec noticed was a young girl with fiery red hair. When Jace finally let go of his hand, he almost fell forward but he managed to balance himself in time. He shot his brother a glare but the other was focused on watching the performers and his eyes were sparkling with a kind of joy that Alec had never seen on the blonde before. Following Jace’s line of sight, Alec found himself looking at the girl he had first noticed just a moment before.

Smiling, he scanned the other performers and stopped when his eyes landed on a man with bronze skin. He was so beautiful and once again, Alec found that he couldn’t look away. Except this time, it was only because on one person.

“Who’s that?” Alec asked, his tone urgent as he whacked Jace’s arm repeatedly to get his attention.

“Who?” Jace asked with a frown as he tried to concentrate on clapping, smiling suddenly and Alec guessed that the girl he had come to see noticed him. Good for him.

“That,” Alec repeated in a hushed whisper. _“Him.”_

Slowly, Jace turned to face Alec though he was still clapping. He studied Alec seriously for a while before shrugging and looking away. “Still don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Wait.” Alec pulled the blonde’s shoulder, making Jace look at him again, much to the other’s annoyance. “You...you know?” There was an uneasy feeling in his chest and he was starting to feel uncomfortable. Panicking internally, Alec looked around, afraid that people had heard him and were staring.

No one was paying him any attention though, all their eyes were on the performers.

Eyes softening, Jace finally stopped clapping and he placed his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “I don’t know who you’re looking for, Alec,” he said kindly and Alec nodded gratefully.

“Him,” Alec said again, gesturing to the group of performers. He turned back to face the stage and tried finding the beautiful man only to realise that he was gone. “He isn’t there anymore.” Alec looked at Jace sadly.

Behind Jace, there was a couple staring at him and whispering. Scared thoughts started to run through Alec’s mind. Did they hear him? Were they judging him?

“Hey.” Jace snapped a finger in front of Alec. He shook his head when he saw the fear in Alec’s hazel eyes. “There’ll be solo acts later on. You can see who the performer is then.”

Biting his lower lip, Alec nodded, patting Jace’s knee to say, ‘thank you’ before turning back to watch the show.

Every act was amazing and Alec was utterly awestruck. The trapeze, the fire-breathing man, the various animal performances, and so much more. Alec had almost forgotten about the person he had been staring at until he heard the next announcement.

“And presenting to you our final act!” the Ringmaster’s voice boomed through the tent. “The Magician! Magnus Bane!”

The lights dimmed suddenly and the crowd quietened down, a few gasps sounded in the dark.

Alec looked around, trying to see in the dark but to no avail. His heart was thrumming in anticipation for what was to come. It was the final act. It must be him.

Suddenly, the lights turned on, all moving to the centre, shining on a tall man dressed in a long maroon coat that had gold threading all over, a black top hat on his head and in his right hand was a simple brown cane.

The Magician tilted his hat slightly but it was still hiding his face and it made Alec subconsciously crane his neck a little to try catching a glimpse of the other’s face. Next to him, Jace scoffed and all of a sudden Alec was aware of what he was doing. A light blush appeared on Alec’s face. Clearing his throat, he sat back properly and elbowed Jace, drawing a soft ‘oof’ from the blonde.

“Petty,” Jace grumbled, rubbing his ribs while Alec smiled, eyes focused on the man at the centre of the tent.

“What did the Ringmaster say his name was, again?” Alec whispered to Jace, leaning into his brother’s side.

“And he wants something from me after jabbing my ribs!” Jace said dramatically. He didn’t have to see to know that Alec had just rolled his eyes. The blonde chuckled softly. “Magnus.”

Alec nodded in thanks. “Magnus,” he repeated under his breath, liking the way the Magician’s name rolled off his tongue. It was probably a stage name though. Who would even have such a fancy name?

Magnus slid to the left side, his movement fluid and elegant, the spotlight following him. Slowly, he raised his hand to the edge of his top hat and lifted it off just a tiny bit, but it was enough for Alec to see the other’s face.

For a moment, Alec forgot how to breathe as he drunk in the image of the Magician’s face. The other looked so handsome.

Suddenly, Magnus pulled off his hat quickly, bringing it to his side so that the bottom side was facing up to the ceiling and a rabbit hopped out of it, surprising Alec a little as the rest of the audience cheered. Then another rabbit hopped out and Magnus frowned at his hat. He lifted the hat higher and out jumped another rabbit. Magnus stared at the three white animals hopping away from him with an incredulous look and Alec found himself laughing along with the rest of the crowd at the act that Magnus was putting up.

Looking away from the hat, Magnus grinned at the audience before placing his hand inside and pulled out a string of cards that couldn’t stop coming out until he moved his hand away.

There were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ coming from all over the tent but Alec was too dignified to make any sort of noise in a public setting such as the one that he was currently in. Jace looked like he was struggling to keep in his cheers and shouts in. The blonde was certainly having a more difficult time than Alec at controlling himself.

Alec would have told Jace to simply let himself loose and have fun if he weren’t too concentrated on the Magician doing his little tricks at the centre of the tent.

Magnus was scanning the crowd now and when his eyes landed on Alec, the aristocrat forgot how to breathe again as he stared into the chocolate brown eyes of the Magician. All of a sudden, Alec couldn’t hear the incessant chatter around him or the little gasps of amazement or shouts of encouragement anymore. It was just him and Magnus looking at each other like the world around them didn’t matter.

Then the spell was broken when Magnus looked away and Alec could breathe easily again. That moment had been intense and Alec unexpectedly found himself wanting to talk to the Magician.

The rest of the Magician’s act went by in a blur for Alec, not in the sense that he wasn’t paying attention but more of a breathtaking kind of way that made him speechless and awestruck by the time the performance ended and Magnus left the stage. He hadn’t even realised that the people around him were starting to stand up to leave the tent. There weren’t any more acts to be seen.

“Do you want to meet the performers with me?” Jace asked Alec softly as the people around them pushed against one another in order to be the first to leave the tent. It was ironic how everyone had wanted so desperately to be in the tent at the start and were now the most eager to be out of it.

Alec turned to him with a raised brow. “What did you do?” he asked suspiciously, frowning when someone stepped on his foot. He looked at the exit of the tent and his frown deepened upon seeing how disorganised everyone was and how haphazardly everyone was moving. Suddenly, he missed the theatre. 

“I know Luke,” Jace answered, drawing Alec’s attention back to him.

“You know the Ringmaster?” Alec hissed, shocked that Jace had never mentioned that piece of information to him before.

“Well, I’m kind of interested in his step-daughter,” Jace said nonchalantly with a shrug.

“Kind of,” Alec repeated mockingly and Jace rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t want to come with me, you can head back home first and come up with a story about how nice the new play at the theatre was tonight.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Jace,” Alec chided. “Our family’s box was empty tonight. Maryse and Robert could simply ask any one of their acquaintances and pick up my lie.”

“I take it as you want to follow me then,” Jace concluded, standing up and dusting his pants before making his way to the exit. Most of the crowd had cleared so Jace could easily walk to the flap leading outside.

“It’s not like I have a choice,” Alec grumbled to himself and stood up to follow Jace out of the tent. Truth was, Alec was actually excited at the prospect of meeting the circus members, especially the Magician.

Upon exiting the tent, Alec heard Jace calling out to someone happily. He saw Jace approaching a girl with fiery red hair with a large and dopey grin on his face. Clary. Looking around, Alec saw that the Ringmaster was nowhere to be around.

“Why, hello there,” someone said from behind Alec, making the latter turn around quickly in shock. It was Magnus. He chuckled, seeing Alec so frightened. “Don’t need to be so surprised, pretty boy.”

Pretty boy? Alec scowled and folded his arms across his chest.

“I saw you in the crowd,” Magnus continued as he took a step closer to Alec.

The logical part of Alec was telling him to move away and that he shouldn't be standing so close to a stranger and one who wasn’t even in the same class as he was. His brain was screaming at him to take two steps back. But Alec was telling himself to move closer and his heart was shouting at him to close the distance. Alec chose to trust his own judgement and took a step closer to Magnus.

Magnus looked amused but Alec stood firm on the ground.

“I saw you uh…” Alec stuttered. “On stage,” he finished lamely.

“I’m sure you did, darling.”

The pet name made a blush appear on Alec’s face. “You were great up there. I really enjoyed your performance.”

Magnus beamed, his whole face lighting up and Alec found himself smiling back as happily. “Thank you!” he chirped merrily. “Mister Lightwood,” he added.

“You – ” Alec swallowed. “You know me?”

“Everyone in this city knows your family,” Magnus explained.

“Technically, we’re outside of the city,” a girl’s voice said from the side.

“Go away, biscuit,” Magnus scolded gently, swatting his hand at Clary.

She stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation before bursting out laughing and walking away with Jace to a more secluded area.

“Well.” Alec clasped his hands together. “The show was really amazing. Every performance was spectacular. All of you are very talen – ”

“Aren’t they the Lightwoods?” some people around the area started to whisper, making Alec tense upon hearing his family’s name.

“I need to go,” Alec said suddenly.

Magnus’ face fell. “But we just started talking,” he began. He was smiling but he looked sad too. “Why do you have to lea - ”

“He’s the Lightwood heir, isn’t he?” another voice said.

The smile on Magnus’ face faded as realisation dawned on him. “Oh.”

Pressing his lips into a firm line, Alec nodded and looked away from Magnus to search for Jace. It was easy to spot the blonde because of the other’s height and stature. Quickly walking over to his brother, Alec tugged on Jace’s arm, interrupting the latter’s conversation with Clary.

“Alec, what?” Jace asked impatiently.

“We need to leave,” Alec rushed out.

“What? Why?” Jace noticed the uneasy look on Alec’s face so he placed a comforting hand on his elder brother’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, Alec?”

“We just need to go. _Now,_ ” Alec stressed, eyes darting around nervously.

“He’s just ashamed of being seen here,” a man’s voice said and Alec immediately turned to the newcomer. The stranger had honey-coloured skin and jet black hair. His eyes had a kind of intensity to them that made Alec a little frightened. “Leave,” he said firmly. 

“Alec?” Jace said worriedly when he saw how distraught Alec looked.

“It’s fine, Jace,” Clary told the blonde as she smiled at him. She placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it once before letting go. “You should go now.”

Jace simply nodded to Clary before he looked at Alec again. “Let’s go.”

Wordlessly, Alec began to walk away from the enormous tent, not looking back to check if Jace was really following him, not looking back to see if there were people staring. He didn’t look back once. Not even to see if Magnus was watching him leave with sad eyes.

That night, Alec couldn’t sleep. He kept on tossing and turning in his bed as the memory of Magnus’ crestfallen expression and broken tone stayed at the front of his mind. It had been awful. _He_ had been awful. And Magnus didn’t deserve this kind of treatment from him just because he was afraid of shaming his family’s name.

So Alec made up his mind to visit the circus the first thing in the morning to apologise to Magnus.

 

Alec stood awkwardly in front of the large circus tent, wondering how he was supposed to find Magnus. He had simply turned up without any concrete plan. While he 

“Mister Lightwood, fancy seeing you here again.” Magnus walked out from behind the tent, smirking.

“Mister Bane.” Alec turned around, looking flustered.

A shocked expression crossed Magnus’ face. “No one ever calls me that.”

Frowning, Alec tilted his head slightly. “Then what do people usually call you?”

Laughing out loud, Magnus pointed at Alec while he clutched his stomach. When Alec didn’t start laughing along with him, Magnus realised that the other was being serious.

Magnus cleared his throat. “Well. They call me The Magician,” Magnus purred and Alec rolled his eyes. “That’s one of the nicer ones. I get ‘circus thrash’ too or ‘that guy’. Some call me ‘Bane’, some call me ‘that Asian’.” He shrugged, seemingly unbothered. “I get called a lot of things. I don’t really care.” He grinned at Alec. “Mister Bane’s a first though.”

“I’m sorry.” Alec looked away in shame.

“What are you apologising for?” Magnus laughed. “You’re not the one calling me those names. You’re too kind, Alexander. I appreciate your apology but it isn’t going to change anything.”

Sighing, Alec nodded.

“So, to what honour do I deserve this visit?”

“Oh.” Alec looked surprised as if he forgot his purpose for coming to the circus’ grounds in the first place. “I came here to apologise for last night.” He smiled wryly as Magnus chuckled.

“Come watch the show again tonight?”

“I...” Alec inhaled deeply, hesitating. “I’d like that.”

The smile that appeared on Magnus’ face was worth it. “See you tonight then, Alexander.”

Magnus gave a small wave before walking back into the big tent. He stopped halfway and turned around gracefully with his right index finger pointed up. “Call me Magnus.” Throwing Alec one last grin, he continued walking away.

And for the first time in a long while, Alec was looking forward to something.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos, comments, and love are all appreciated! They mean a lot to me!
> 
> Talk to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chairmancatsby)! Or drop me more 5 + 1 prompts on [Tumblr](https://chairmancatsby.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> xoxo  
> Trix


End file.
